


Short-Term Plans

by DanaScully77



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Movie: The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:13:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27542896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanaScully77/pseuds/DanaScully77
Summary: Scully is bone deep exhausted and hopes she doesn't sound as desperate as she feels. "Can I come over?" The thought of spending the night alone is too painful and she longs for the warmth of his apartment.Fight the Future fluff, angst, and smut.
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 16
Kudos: 185





	1. Fight the Future part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Fight the Future for the first time and have a lot of feelings. Here is my take on what should have happened after they returned from Antartica.

Scully is bone deep exhausted. Her body leans against the wall in her apartment, back against her front door. Every inch of her is sore and she has frostbite littering her body.

She drops the bag of her ruined clothes, courtesy of the hospital, on the ground. They had to cut through her and Mulder’s clothes when they found them in Antarctica to immediately start medical services. Frowning at the bag now, she isn’t sure why they even bothered to give the garments back to her.

The cold air of her apartment makes her shiver. She feels like she hasn’t been able to get warm since the bee stung her. Her entire body had shut down and she shudders as she remembers the feeling of something starting to move inside of her. She tries not to think too long about what it was or the fact that they had yet again done something to her body without her consent.

Wrapping her arms around her torso, she suddenly feels overwhelmed. Between the fight with Mulder, her resignation from the X-Files, her decision to remain in the FBI, their almost kiss, and then the entire Antarctica experience, Scully cannot compartmentalize this like she normally does. It’s all too much.

Grabbing her phone from her pocket, she dials Mulder’s number before she can truly process what she is doing.

“Mulder.” His voice sounds just as exhausted as she feels.

“Mulder, it’s me.” She speaks softly as if there is another person on the line with them. She doesn’t trust her full voice to not betray her emotions.

“Scully, are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Scully pauses and surveys her empty, cold apartment and feels herself suffocating on the suddenly stale air. “Can I come over?”

She prays she doesn’t sound as desperate as she feels. The thought of having to spend tonight alone makes her want to curl up and die and she longs for the warmth of his apartment. She tries not to overanalyze why.

“You know you’re always welcome.” Mulder’s response is smooth and even. If he is shocked by her request she can’t tell. “Although, we are going to have to share the couch.”

“What happened to your bed?”

“It broke.”

A laugh breaks from Scully’s lips. It shocks her, the sound of it. She hasn’t laughed in well over ninety-six hours and she feels a small amount of relief.

“I’ll be over soon.”

Mulder can already hear her heels clicking on the aluminum floor as she walks down the hallway of her apartment complex.

“I’ll be here.” He responds and then clicks the phone off.

Looking around his apartment, Mulder leans against his own front door, unknowingly mirroring her previous position across town. He has the sudden urge to clean the apartment before she gets there, but knows it is futile and ridiculous.

Instead, he takes a quick shower and changes into jeans and a t-shirt. He checks the fridge and isn’t surprised when all he finds is beer and some rotting condiments. Mulder orders them Chinese food, having memorized her order a long time ago, and then sits on the couch to await her arrival. The television is on, but he really isn’t watching it.

Instead, he is thinking about the past few days. From the bombing, to begging Scully not to quit the FBI, to their almost kiss. He rubs his fingers across the bottom of his lip and he swears he can almost feel how her lips would have felt had they touched.

Shifting, he groans and lays his head on the back of the couch. His body is screaming at him. The gunshot to the head, the fall into the ice, the crash landing and almost instant death off the side of the underground tunnels, the act of carrying Scully, and then the long stay in the cold all accumulating into a cocktail of pain.

A soft knock brings him out of his internal categorization of his injuries and he peers over just as she opens the door, letting herself in. “It’s me.” She says, even though he can see her.

Scully takes her shoes off and lines them neatly against his wall before she halts in her steps, pausing in the entrance way of his apartment.

She hadn’t grabbed any clothes before practically darting out of her own apartment. Looking down at her body she stares at the scrubs the hospital had offered her. She didn’t even have a bra or panties on. A light flush settles across her features at her own hastiness to get to his place.

“I think you have a pair of leggings and a t-shirt here.” Mulder’s voice startles Scully and she glances up at him. “You left them here after our run a few weeks ago.”

“Oh. Umm, great.”

“The bathtub is all yours, if you want it.”

Scully offers a soft smile, grateful for his calm demeanor and gentle tone. “Thank you.”

Mulder nods and stands up, walking over to her in a few quick strides. She gasps softly as he pulls her into a hug. Her head rests on his chest, mirroring their position in the hallway all those many hours ago. This time though, it is Mulder that places a kiss to the top of her forehead, taking a moment to breathe in her scent, only slightly overshadowed by the smell of hospital antiseptic.

Scully shivers in his embrace and he mistakes it as a reaction to the cold. “Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”

He surprises her by taking her hand in his and leading her down the hallway to his bedroom. She surprises herself by allowing it to happen.

Entering his room, she laughs again, the sound once more startling her. His once functional bedframe sits in the middle of the room, pathetically cracked and crooked. She raises her eyebrow at him in an expression of amusement and feels more like herself than she has in weeks. The original fracture in her demeanor having started with Diana Fowley, someone she does not want to think about tonight. 

“I tried to sleep on it one night among all of the boxes and it snapped.” He shrugs and leaves her in the doorway of the bathroom.

She glances at the bed once more and wonders how long it has been like that. Her guess is months, if not longer. His bedroom has always acted more as a storage unit than an actual place to rest. The thought makes her sad and she turns her attention back to Mulder.

As the tap turns on she watches as he checks the temperature before moving to a cabinet above the toilet. He rummages around for a moment before pulling out bubble bath soap and some bath salts. He pours them into the tub before she has a chance to examine them and audibly gasps as a familiar floral smell fills the room.

Mulder looks shy as he meets her curious gaze. “I bought them after you came back from Maine. I wanted to give them to you as an apology for your ruined vacation, but the timing never felt appropriate.” He shrugs.

“My vacation wasn’t ruined because of you.” She thinks back to the haunted doll and how her own curiosity had roped her into assisting the sheriff.

“I know, but I’m sure you there were other times I got in the way of your rest and relaxation.”

“Mulder.”

“It’s okay.” Mulder gives a small smile and turns the taps off. “Take as long as you need.”

Mulder slips past her out of the room and wanders back down the hallway to resume his position on the couch. Scully goes to shut the bathroom door, but at the last second decides to leave it open a few inches. This way she can still hear the voices on the television and the sound of Mulder cracking sunflowers seeds between his teeth, the sound echoing off his apartment walls.

Scully strips herself of the scrubs and avoids looking at herself in the mirror of his bathroom. She doesn’t want a visual reminder of the past few days, not until she is clean and feeling more like herself.

As she steps into the tub she hisses in pain. The frostbite on her toes is pissed off at the temperature of the water and she is appreciative of the fact that Mulder had only drawn a lukewarm bath.

 _“He must have learned from his own shower,”_ she thinks as she slowly slides herself into the water.

She hisses again as she is finally submerged and then sighs as she leans her head against the back of the tub, letting the water wash over her. Mulder’s tub is larger than hers, a characteristic of his taller size, and she stretches herself out under the bubbles.

A few minutes go by and she hears a sharp knock at his front door. She makes to jump up, fear shocking her system, but settles back down when she hears “that will be 22.95.”

 _“He ordered Chinese.”_ Their order always comes to the same amount as both of them are creatures of habits.

She soaks for a few more minutes before submerging her head fully under the water. The frostbite on her face stings and she comes up a few seconds later. Eyeing his shampoo, Scully makes a rash decision and pours some into her palm.

She pulls the plug and starts lathering the shampoo into her hair as she watches the bubbles swirl down the drain. Once it is empty, she stands and turns the shower on, rinsing his shampoo out of her hair. She grabs his body wash next and lathers it down her body, mindful of her frostbite. His musky scent fills the room and slowly overpowers the floral smells of her bubble bath.

Turning the shower off, she steps out and searches the closet for clean towels, wrapping one around her hair and patting her body dry with another. Tying the towel around her waist, she steps into his bedroom and makes her way over to the drawer next to his deflated bed.

She spots her running pants and t-shirt and is halfway through the process of pulling them onto her body when she spots his Knicks t-shirt on the ground. She bites her lip in contemplation and pulls the article of clothing up to her nose, breathing deeply. It smells faintly like his cologne, but is otherwise clean.

Making another rash decision, she discards her own shirt and pulls his over her head, the Knicks logo landing across her braless chest. If he questions her she is just going to say that his would be more comfortable to sleep in. Using that same logic, she strips out of her leggings and grabs a clean pair of his boxers, tying them in a knot at her waist to keep them up.

She glances at herself in the mirror of his bedroom and is shocked at how petite she appears. Her body is covered in angry red patches, thanks to the frostbite, and she has bruises from where Mulder had grabbed her and pulled her along, saving her life. Her lips are chapped and she licks them a few times to try to get color back. It’s a fruitless attempt and she gives up, quickly exiting his bedroom.

As she enters the living room, she sees Mulder’s eyes widen at her choice of clothing and she immediately blurts out her explanation. “The leggings were too tight and hurt my frostbite.”

Mulder doesn’t question her, just nods and pats the couch cushion. Scully steps around his legs and plops herself down on the couch. As she does, the scent of his own shampoo wafts toward him. 

“You smell like me.” He whispers, almost in awe.

Scully flushes a light pink. “I…” She doesn’t have a response ready for this and stutters.

“I like it.” Mulder soothes, his palm landing against the inside of her knee. His thumb strokes a few times before he retreats.

She stays silent and just points to a Chinese container on his coffee table. He nods and she grabs it, slowly digging into her lo mien.

“What are we watching?”

“Huh? Oh, I don’t actually know.” Mulder responses and they both absentmindedly watch the screen for a few minutes.

It ends up being late-night infomercials, but neither move to change the channel. Instead, they allow the plainness of the commercials to calm the mood of the apartment. Neither would be able to focus on a real program anyways.

Scully suddenly discards her lo mien and slides closer to Mulder, tucking herself just barely into his side. The action is abrupt and Mulder gasps silently as she pulls his hand onto her lap, trapping it between both of hers.

They both continue to watch the television and Mulder shivers as she starts to stroke his palm with her thumb. He isn’t sure she is conscious of the action, her face scrunched up in clear concentration.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Mulder makes sure his voice is soft when he finally speaks. He doesn’t want to startle her.

Biting her lip, she glances up at him. “What now?”

“Long-terms plans?” Mulder questions, repeating the phrase Skinner had been up his ass about all week before their trial.

“Yeah.”

“No idea.” Mulder says honestly. Scully nods and thinks some more. She is staring at their joined hands on her lap and tremors at the realization that his hands have touched her naked body. Granted, she had been barely conscious and in need of medical assistance, but still. His hands now knew the shape of her body.

“Short-term plans?” She whispers a few seconds later, chancing another glance up at him.

She isn’t surprised that he is watching her and holds his gaze for a few seconds before dropping her eyes back to their hands.

“Short-term plans.” He repeats and takes a steady breath. “Well for starters, this.” He squeezes her hands to indicate that he is content to remain sitting here with her for as long as she needs. “And then sleep. And then…” He uses his free hand to tilt her chin up to look at him. “And then, I’d really like to wake up tomorrow with you still in my arms.”

Scully gasps at the intensity and honesty of his response and bites down on her bottom lip to keep her emotions at bay.

“Don’t do that.” He breathes and swipes his thumb out to pull her bottom lip from the grip of her teeth. Scully takes a shaky breath and nods, just barely, in his palm. “Short-term plans?” Mulder questions back, dropping his hand to join the others in her lap.

She smiles softly and squeezes their hands. “This. And sleep.” She pauses then and takes another deep breath for confidence. “And then, I’d really like to wake up in your arms in the morning.”

Mulder’s breath catches in his throat and he moves them so that his arm is wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her harder against his side. He moves his other hand across his own lap to grab hers, resting them between their thighs that are pressed together. The angle hurts his sore ribs, but he doesn’t care.

Scully lets her head fall against his shoulder and closes her eyes at the sensation of his chest rising and falling. The television and the fish tank are the only sounds in the room for a while, both of them just taking solace in the other’s presence.

“We need to talk about what happened.” Scully breaks the quiet a few minutes later.

“I know.” Mulder nods, kissing the top of her head again. “Tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to feel your body against mine and know that you’re alive.”

This time Scully cannot curb the rush of emotions she feels and a few tears slide silently down her cheeks. Before she can brush them away, Mulder’s hand is reaching up to swipe away the tears with his thumb.

“Too much?” He whispers.

“Yes.” Scully sighs. “And no.”

“Let’s lay down.” Mulder suggests, knowing they are way too overtired to be having this conversation. Their bodies are physically, mentally, and emotionally spent.

“You’re sleeping in jeans?”

“I don’t have any sweatpants clean.”

“Just sleep in your boxers.” Scully’s reply is firm, but a pink blush settles on her cheeks at her own brashness tonight.

Mulder nods and stands up to kick his jeans down his legs. She pretends not to notice as he tries to subtly adjust his shaft in his boxers. He moves to the closet to grab a blanket and two pillows and returns to her side.

They maneuver so that he is laying on his back, near the edge of the couch with Scully draped over his chest, sandwiched between him and the back cushions. Her hand lands on his chest, over his heart, and he places his own palm overtop of hers, the other arm wrapped around her waist to hold her against him.

Scully stares at his hand over hers, realizing just how large his hands are compared to her own. Her entire hand is concealed by his and she can feel his steady heartbeat under her palm.

And even though they are pressed together, Scully suddenly cannot get close enough to him. Her leg slides over top of his and she presses her hips into the side of his own. Her hand clenches at his chest and her face buries in his neck. Her body unexpectedly feels like a livewire, a switch that has just been flipped, and she cannot stop the soft panting against his throat as adrenaline slams into her system.

“Scully.” He whispers, feeling her body trembling.

“Mulder, I feel… I… I feel like I just ran a marathon.”

He pulls her closer by the hip, her smaller body almost completely on top of his now. It hurts both of them, their frostbitten sore bodies aching, but neither of them pull away. “Tell me how to help.”

“I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know where this feeling is coming from. I swear I’m exhausted.”

“Shock. The course of events catching up to you now that you’re stationary. You taught me that.” Mulder speaks calmly and strokes his hand up her back, over the top of his shirt. As he slides his palm back down, he plays with the knot of the boxers on her hip.

“I feel like I’m going to explode. I just want to sleep. I came here to sleep. I’m so tired, Mulder.” She is whining now. Her emotions are taking a hard dive and all rational thought is gone. All that remains is raw adrenaline mixed with utter fatigue.

“Let me help you.” Mulder whispers, his hand splaying on her lower back, fingertips just barely stroking bare skin from where the shirt has risen up.

“Oh god.” Scully gasps. “I’m not normally… god, I feel frantic.”

“Let me help.” Mulder requests again, slipping his fingertips under the band of her boxers to stroke just above her ass.

“This isn’t how…” She starts but cuts herself off at the realization of what she is about to admit.

“I know. Me either.” He responses. “But when have our plans ever actually panned out the way we expected?” He makes sure his tone indicates that he is smiling.

She chuckles against his neck and another tremor goes through her. Her hands grab his shoulders now, bunching up the t-shirt in her palms.

“Let me help.” He says once more and this time Scully nods. “I’m going to need verbal confirmation on this one, Scully.”

“Oh god.” She breathes and presses herself further into his neck, wanting to hide her emotions. Her exhaustion not allowing her to filter her facial expressions. “Please, Mulder. Please. I just want to be able to sleep.”

“I got you.” Mulder soothes and slips his hand inside the boxers she is wearing. He reaches up and over her ass to stroke through her wetness.

“Ohh.” Scully gasps and bites down on his collarbone to try to stay grounded. He winces at the feeling of her teeth, but doesn’t stop her. It will be the one battle wound that he will actually savor in the morning.

He reaches further between her legs and feels as she drops them over his hips, widening her stance to let him move freely. Mulder is glad she is so short, his arm able to reach fully between her legs, even at this angle.

“Tell me how you need it.”

“Quick. Inside. Please.”

He doesn’t hesitate. Two of his fingers slide inside of her and he lets a soft groan slip past his lips at the slick wetness of her body. He pushes in as deep as he can before withdrawing his fingers and slamming them back inside.

She cries out and he feels her tongue lick where she bit him. It spurs him on, his fingers starting a quick pace in and out of her body.

Her trembling becomes full on body tremors as she rocks back against his fingers. Her own hand leaves his death grip on his shoulder and pushes between their bodies to join his hand inside her make-shift shorts.

Scully begins circling her clit and lets out a loud cry as he shoves a third finger inside of her. “Oh my god. Please. Please.” Scully is begging. Her body hates how worked up it is getting and she can feel the crash coming. “Please, please, Mulder. Please.”

Mulder picks up the pace and grabs her hip in the other, rocking her into him. The leverage pushes her own fingers harder against her clit and she screams as the start of her orgasm begins to pulse through her body.

“That’s it, Scully. You’re almost there. Just let go.”

His words break the final barrier between her and her orgasm and she shouts as it slams into her at full force. 

“Mul—” The beginning of his name slips out before she clamps her lips down around his collarbone. She doesn’t want to say his name. Not tonight. Not like this.

He continues to thrust, slowing his pace when he feels her body gradually settle against his chest. Her teeth let go of his neck and her own hand falls to his hip. He keeps his fingers buried inside of her for a few brief moments, selfishly needing the connection to continue, before sliding them out.

His impulse is to suck them into his mouth and taste her, but he knows that is off limits tonight. Instead, he wipes them on his own boxers, before cradling her against his side as he turns them to face one another. 

She keeps herself buried in his neck, not wanting to see his expression, and within a few more minutes she is asleep. Her body finally giving into the fatigue.

Mulder stays awake for a little while longer, stroking her back up and down, before sleep washes over him as well.


	2. Fight the Future part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter to this short fiction. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed!

The first thing he becomes aware of when he wakes up in the morning is pain. His entire body is aching and his head and torso are throbbing in anger. The second thing is notices is that Scully is not in his arms.

Mulder jumps up despite his body’s protest and goes to grab for the phone, but at the last second notices her shoes are still at the door. He turns just as she is coming out of the bathroom, looking up at him sheepishly.

“I thought you left.” He says softly.

“Still here.” She responses and motions to her bag on the ground near his feet. “We should probably take our pain medications.”

“I’ll get us some water.” He sets off for the kitchen and joins her on the couch a few moments later with two glasses of water.

Scully portions out their meds, having grabbed his from his desk, and they cheers before swallowing their pills. Scully drinks most of the water before returning the cup to the coffee table and glancing over at Mulder. A soft flush settles on her features and she feels nervous.

“About last night…”

“It’s alright.” Mulder cuts her off with a gentle smile. Scully nods, partially relieved to not have to explain herself and yet, she isn’t sure where to go from here. She hears him groan as he stands from the couch and watches him move back toward the kitchen. The sound of his coffee pot fills the silence a moment later.

“I should go home.” She voices as he returns.

“Stay for coffee first?”

Scully nods once and fidgets with his t-shirt she is still wearing. She notices his posture is more tilted than normal and realizes he must be in a lot more pain that he is letting on. “Come here.” She motions, patting the couch.

His eyebrow arches, but he follows her order and takes his place next to her on the sofa.

“Let me see.” She requests and reaches for the bottom of his shirt. Mulder stays silent, lifting his arms up so that she can remove the garment from his body. It is not the first time she has seen his naked torso; hell, it’s not even the first time she has removed his shirt, but this feels different.

They both pause and make eye contact before Scully looks down at his chest. His ribs look like a battlefield and when she stands to look at his back, she sees dark marks and cuts lining his spine. “Oh Mulder.” She breathes, her hands gently reaching out to stroke along his shoulder blades.

“Looks worse than it feels.” He tries to put on a bravado, but winces when her fingertips touch along his back.

“Are your ribs broken?” She moves back around to sit in front of him and studies the bruising of his rib cage.

“Just have internal bruising. I’m lucky you’re tiny.” He tries to joke, but it falls flat at her firm expression.

“Lie down.” Mulder listens and flattens himself out along the couch, resuming his position from last night.

Scully waits until he settles before slowly straddling his legs and leaning over his body. She hears his soft gasp of surprise and hesitates for a second before lowering her head to place soft kisses along his chest. Mulder relaxes under her body and she mumbles the parts of the body as she kisses her way down his ribs.

_“Sternum. Ribs 1, 2,… 7. Costal cartilage. Ribs 8, 9, 10. Floating ribs around back. 11 and 12.”_

“Scully.” He utters her name like a prayer into the room. She meticulously kisses every bruise, scrape, and frostbitten parcel of skin on his chest and ribs. Her lips brush gently across his pecs before she raises herself to kiss one of his nipples. He jumps in surprise at the sensation and cups her cheek in one of his palms, encouraging her to look up at him.

“Frostbite.” She mutters as a means of explanation.

“You have some on your lips.”

“Mulder.”

“Please Scully.”

“We can’t.” She whispers. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Mulder comforts.

They both remain in place, Scully straddling his thighs, her body hovering over his bare chest as he holds her face in his palm. He watches as she sucks her lower lip into her mouth and like last night, uses his thumb to pull it back out. Scully is gently running her fingertips along the bite mark on his collarbone, a light flush on her features at the realization that it was from her.

“I love your lips.” Mulder admits, stroking his thumb along her bottom lip for a moment. He is surprised she is allowing him to do it, but doesn’t question her actions.

“Why?”

He looks into her eyes at her question, catching the genuine curiosity, before dropping back to her mouth. “They tell a story.” His thumb moves to her top lip before pressing down the middle to catch her bottom lip before dropping to her chin. “When you’re nervous you bite your bottom lip, when you’re lying you press both lips together in a hard line, when you’re annoyed you lick both lips, and when you’re flirting you only lick the top lip.”

Scully flushes at his analysis. “You’ve been profiling me?”

“Only on accident. We spend a lot of time together.” He shrugs slightly and drops his hand back to the couch.

The beep from the coffee machine startles them and Scully slides off of his lap. They both wince from the loss of contact and from the agony in their joints. She moves into his kitchen to fetch them two cups of coffee, comfortable enough in his home to take charge.

When she returns to the living room he is still bare from the waist up and is sitting hunched over with his head in his hands. “Headache?” She asks, setting both cups on the coffee table.

“Not really. Just achy.”

“Let me see.” She kneels in front of him and examines his eyes first before running her hands through his hair to inspect his head. “Your bullet wound looks okay. No infection.”

Mimicking her earlier actions, she leans up and kisses the around the wound before moving to sit on the coffee table directly across from him.

He catches her hands and tries to tug her back near him, but she shakes her head and resists the movement.

“Why?” He whispers.

“Long-term plans.” She states as an explanation. In truth, Scully is scared. Kissing Mulder would change so many things about their dynamic and their role on the x-files is already in jeopardy. The risk seems too great.

“What about short-term plans?”

“Not applicable.”

“I disagree.”

“There is no taking it back once it happens.” Scully warns, but her body is betraying her, leaning back toward his space. She wants to hear his rationale, wants to believe him, wants him to be right.

“You were ready in the hallway. What changed?”

“I decided to stay.” She smiles weakly at him and suddenly it all makes sense. Scully is rationale in most aspects of her life, but is always willing to go out on a limb for Mulder and the X-Files. When she was thinking of quitting the FBI the risk of kissing him was minimal. Mulder wouldn’t be able to lose the X-Files because of an interoffice relationship if she wasn’t there and now that she is staying, she is scared to take the next step in their personal relationship.

“Scully. Nothing has to change.”

She sighs and stands, moving to the door and collecting her purse and shoes. “Everything has to change.” A pause. “I’ll return your clothing tomorrow.” And with that, she is out the door.

Mulder slumps against the couch and stares at the two untouched coffee mugs. His apartment already feels colder without her presence.

-BREAK-

She doesn’t contact him until late the next night, her raspy voice coming down the phone line.

“Mulder, it’s me.”

“Everything okay?”

“Did I wake you?” She deflects with a question of her own.

“No, I’ve been up.”

“Same.” She responses and it’s on her intake of breath that Mulder realizes she is panting too heavily.

“Scully?”

“The adrenaline is back.” She whispers the words as if they are a dirty secret. “I tried to go for a run, but my body wasn’t ready for that much exertion. I only made it to the end of the block.”

“Do you know where the adrenaline is coming from this time?”

“Most likely an anxiety attack. I keep having flashbacks to being in the tank.” She admits, taking solace in the fact that he cannot see her. She is tucked into her bed, covers up to her neck, trying to calm her beating heart.

She doesn’t remember at lot of what happened to her, but her body can recall the liquid she was kept in, the tube that was down her throat, and the burning cold on her skin like a phantom limb. Scully shivers and swallows thickly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He offers even though they both know that isn’t their strong suit.

“No. It’s fine.”

“Then why did you call?” He presses a bit further and for a few minutes all that is heard is her winded breath.

“I…” A pause and another thick swallow. “I was hoping you could help me again.”

Mulder hesitates in his response, trying to think through her rationale. She won’t kiss him on the lips because it is too risky for their working partnership, but she will cuddle in his arms, kiss his bruises, let him finger her on the couch, and now potentially phone sex?

“I shouldn’t have called.” She backtracks.

“No! No, it’s fine.” He quickly assures her. He doesn’t want to go back to the loneliness of his empty apartment. “I’ll help you.”

“Mulder, we shouldn’t do this.” She comments even though this was all her idea; her request.

“Scully, what are you wearing?” Both of them grin at the cheesy line and he smirks when a soft chuckle comes down the phone.

She blushes into the dark of her bedroom as she contemplates telling him a lie. The soft material of his t-shirt slides against her skin as she shifts in her bed, pulling the covers down to reveal the article of clothing.

“Your shirt.” There is no point in lying.

Her honesty rewards her with a soft gasp from Mulder, but he quickly composes himself. He leans against the back of the couch and widens his legs, giving his growing erection some more room, his grey sweatpants tenting in front of him.

“What else?”

“Nothing.” Her response is quiet and if he didn’t have the phone pressed tight to his ear he would have missed it.

_“Shit.”_ His gasp slips out before he can curb it. Scully in his t-shirt and boxers was a sight to behold the night before, but the image of Scully in only his t-shirt, in her own bed, makes his cock jump.

“Mulder.”

“Sorry.” He husks. “Scully, you’re going to have to give me some clear boundaries. I’m not quite sure what I’m allowed to say.”

The covers are pushed down to her knees and Scully knows her skin is flushing a light pink under the moonlight coming through her blinds. “Scientific method.”

“What?” His hand is hovering over his clothed erection, debating whether or not it is okay to touch himself to the sound of her voice. He decides against it and grips the cushion beneath him.

“You asked for boundaries. Assume my _adrenaline problem_ is a phenomenon to be studied.”

Scully is hiding behind science. giving her action a logical solution. If this is just a problem for them to solve, a potential x-file, a repercussion of the experiments done to her body, then she can justify her actions. This isn’t them taking the next step in their partnership. This is them solving a case, righting the wrongs, taking care of each other like they always do.

“I’m a little rusty on my high school science, Scully. Remind me the next step.”

“Ask a question.”

“How can I help you with your _adrenaline_ issue?” He makes sure not to say arousal. He has caught onto her rationale and is willing to go along with it.

“Form a hypothesis.” Her voice is low and raspy and her free hand is playing with the hem of the t-shirt. She lets her fingertips brush along her hip bones, her stomach, and down one of her thighs. A small shiver slides up her spine and she bites back a moan.

“Something testable.” Mulder clarifies to no one in particular and closes his eyes, imagining her red hair fanned out across her pillows. “I hypothesize that an orgasm will solve your problem.”

“Mmmm.” Scully hums low in her throat and slips her hand up her shirt to stroke along the underside of her breasts. “Make a prediction.”

“I predict that if I talk you through touching yourself, you’ll be able to relax and go to sleep.”

“Mmmm.” She hums again and kicks the covers off of her body. He hears the movement and adds the visual to his fantasy.

“Test the predication is next, right?” He waits to hear her verbal confirmation before continuing. “Put me on speaker, Scully. I need both of your hands for this.”

“Oh.” She gasps and does as he instructs. Hitting the speaker button, she places the phone next to her on the bed and presses her hands down her sides to steady her trembling.

“Good.” He praises. “Now do me a favor and cup your breasts over my shirt.”

Scully obeys and takes her breasts in her hands, squeezing and gliding the material across hardened nipples. Her breathing catches and he becomes irrationally jealous of his own shirt.

“Move your thumbs back and forth over your nipples, Scully. Let’s get them nice and perky.” He listens for her soft sighs to increase before moving on. “Go under the shirt now. Push it up until it’s above your breasts and then resume your position.”

“Ahh.” It’s a subtle sigh, but Mulder hears it and shifts his stance until he is kneeling on the couch, arms propped on spine. He refuses to touch himself until she grants permission or at least until she is off of the phone, but can’t take the hardness of his shaft pulsing under his boxers. He presses his hips into the back-couch cushions, seeking any relief he can get.

“How does it feel, Scully?”

“Good.” She gasps. “Need more.”

“Pinch them. Twirl them between your two fingers and press until you get the pressure just right.”

_“Fuck.”_ She groans and her back arches as her fingers pinch and pull at her nipples. She uses her nails to scrape against the skin surrounding her nipples before tweaking them again. Her already labored breathing becomes louder and a low whine slips out.

“Spread your legs.” His order surprises her, lost in the moment, but she immediately obliges the request and Mulder hears the sheets crinkle over the receiver. “How wet are you?”

“Soaked.” Scully gasps and shimmies against the bed. “I need to touch myself.”

Scully is fully committed to this scientific experiment and imagining herself as the subject of study allows her to drop all barriers or indicators of bashfulness. She is going to answer every question Mulder poses in complete honesty. After all, the best scientific results come from a perfect focus group.

“Not yet.” Mulder’s denial earns him a louder whine of disapproval. “Turn onto your stomach.” He hears her roll over. “Grab a pillow, Scully. Place it down between your legs. Fold it in half and adjust the placement until it hits your clit.”

“Oh god.” She gasps in surprise at the direction he is leading her and eagerly obeys. He hears movement for the next few moments as she gets into position.

Her hips straddle a folded pillow and she lowers her torso to rest on the bed with her hands gripping the sheets under her. His shirt is still around her shoulders and is twisted around her upper torso. It takes some shimming, but she soon finds the right angle. One of her legs extends down the bed, the other remains tucked up beside her hip, and she tentatively rocks down into the pillow.

A sharp gasp shudders its way past her lips and Mulder knows she is ready. “That’s it, Scully. Start a slow rhythm. Nice and easy.”

Her hips match his desired speed, gently rocking up and down along the pillow. The pressure is enough to slick the corner of the pillowcase with her arousal, but isn’t enough to provide any real relief to her trembling body.

“Mulder.”

“I know, Scully. The adrenaline wants you to move faster, but it can wait. Your body can handle the teasing for a few more minutes.” She nearly cries out at his words and fights the impulse to pick up the pace. “You got it. Take control of the anxiety driving you forward, Scully. It will feel so good in the end.”

Scully does cry out then. It hits Mulder’s ear a second later and he grunts in reply as his hips bruise into the cushions. His ribs are once again hollering at him, but he cannot be bothered. Not when he has a withering and moaning Scully on the other end of the line.

“Good girl.” He praises and isn’t sure if her responding groan is in pleasure or retaliation at the endearment. “Talk to me. Tell me what you need.”

“More.” Her reply is quick and he hears the trembling in her timbre. “The frenzy. I need to match its pace.”

It’s easier for Scully to think about her actions as being driven by an outside entity. Like the adrenaline and frenzied feelings are separate from her rational being, a poison in her system.

“Go ahead. Pick up the pace, but keep your hips steady.”

“Ohh my god!” She moans loudly into her bedroom and starts a quicker pace against the pillow. Her hips rock back and forth for a second before she starts a circling motion, keeping the harder corner of the pillow on her clit at all times.

She suddenly realizes why he has her fucking her pillow. It’s soft and gentle against her bruised and sore body and it doesn’t aggravate her frostbite. Her fingers grip into the mattress and she bites the pillow under her head to keep from uttering his name.

Almost as if he can read her mind, he starts talking again. “I bet you look so fucking sexy right now, Scully. I can almost picture it.”

“Fuck.” She swears again and digs her hips harder into the pillow. Her tucked leg is cramping from the rocking motion and she widens her stance a tiny bit to get more leverage.

“If I were there…” he starts, but she quickly cuts him off.

“That’s not within the scope of your research question.” Even breathless he can hear the fear and authority in her voice.

“Sorry.” He pants and stops his own movements. Sitting back down on the couch he focuses on listening to her soft sounds to ground him in reality. He’ll save his fantasy for after she hangs up.

“Faster.” He encourages and hears her enthusiastic response. She is much louder tonight than yesterday and he realizes it must be because she is alone in her apartment. He remembers how she buried her face in his neck and refused to look at him during the fingering, and how she had fled after kissing his bruises.

For the first time in his life, he realizes he is going to make the next move, the next step. It has to be him. And while the thought scares him shitless, a repercussion from Diana Fowley and other past lovers, he knows it is worth the risk. It is Dana Katherine Scully he is fighting for after all. And for her, he will always go the extra mile.

A sharp moan redirects his attention. First things first, make Scully come.

“Use your hand now, Scully. Slide two fingers into yourself. You’ll be wet enough by now that you won’t need to ease in gently. Let’s make you scream.”

She gasps and pushes her right hand between her legs to slip two fingers into her dripping cunt. He is right, of course, and her fingers slide easily inside.

“Keep them as deep as possible and rock your hips. Don’t move your wrist too much. Use the weight of your body to fuck your hand.” Mulder instructs, years of calling sex lines coming in handy in this moment.

She indulges in the order, rocking her hips hard and fast against her hand. Her wrist aches at the angle and pressure, but as she feels her orgasm creeping its way past the anxiety ridden trembles, she knows she won’t stop.

“More.” She whimpers in desperation.

“Press your palm into your clit. It should be easy to do in your position.” She moans in response and he knows she found it. “Rock your hips down and up and curl the fingers inside of you.”

Scully listens and cries out again into her bedroom. She knows how to finger herself, she has done so for many years, but having Mulder tell her exactly what she needs as if he has done this to her body a thousand times is too much and the orgasm sweeps over her.

“Oh my god!” She shouts and frantically keeps her hips rocking as waves of pleasure crash through her. Her eyes close and for a few brief moments she allows herself to remember the feeling of Mulder underneath her, his hands between her legs.

“You’re stunning.” She hears his quiet praise just as the orgasm is receding and instantly feels like crying. Her bottom lips sucks into her mouth and she clamps down to prevent herself from making a sound. Dana Scully is not a frequent crier.

The line goes quiet for a while. Her hand slides out of her sex and she cleans them off on her pillow before kicking it off of the bed. She curls back up under the covers and grabs the phone, taking him off of speaker.

“Better?” His voice is like butter against her ear and she wants nothing more than to sink into it, but she can’t.

“Yes.” She partially lies. The adrenaline is gone, but unlike last night she is not peaceful and ready for sleep. Instead, she is sad and lonely.

“Want me to stay on the line with you until you fall asleep?”

“No. It’s fine.” She lies. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Goodnight Scully.”

“Night Mulder.”

She hangs up and turns onto her side. Gripping the edges of the t-shirt in her hands she decides to allow herself one final night of crying. Tomorrow she will pull herself together. Her tears soak the sheets under her and after an hour she finally succumbs to sleep, exhaustion once more taking over.

-BREAK-

Scully wakes up the next morning and begrudgingly peels herself out of his t-shirt, now stuck to her with her own arousal and sweat from a night of tossing and turning anxiously in her sleep. She takes a long, hot shower, and makes herself coffee before starting her normal morning routine: make her bed, throw clothes in the laundry, and get ready for the day.

Since they are still on mandatory forced vacation (a demand by Skinner who insisted they both take a week off after the traumas they had experienced), Scully pulls on a pair of yoga pants and loose tank-top before curling up on the couch with a novel she had started to read months ago and never got the chance to finish.

Her home feels warmer than it did when she first arrived from the hospital, but after a few hours she sighs into its emptiness. While Mulder’s apartment is messy and disorganized, a repercussion of a single man obsessed with his work, it feels homey to Scully and as she glances at her own abode she can’t help but imagine what it would be like to have his clutter among her neat and tidy belongings.

Sighing again, she closes her book and decides to run through some easy yoga poses. Her body is still sore and aching, but after a few moments of light stretches and shaky downward dogs, she feels some of the tension ease out of her and her tight joints loosen. 

She startles as her phone gives off a shrill ring only once before going silent once more, never completing its cycle. Scully frowns and moves toward it to call the number back, knowing it must have been Mulder.

However, as she grabs the receiver she hesitates and sets it back in place. Biting her lower lip, she decides to walk away from it. She has already asked him for so much and it’s time she gives him space if that is what he wants. He’ll call back if that changes.

Across town, Mulder groans as he slams the phone back into the receiver for the sixth time. Each and every time he goes to call Scully he chickens out and finally sits back down on the couch with a deflated moan.

Last night he had decided that he would be the one to make the first move, to really push this beyond just satisfying her biological demands after abduction, but now that it is morning he is scared shitless.

It takes him another few hours to gather courage, but he finally places a connected call to her home.

“Hello.”

“Scully, it’s me. Have you had lunch yet?”

“No, I was just about to order pizza.” She didn’t feel like cooking and was craving something greasy to ease her emotional turmoil.

“Want company?” He asks shyly when her offer doesn’t come.

She only hesitates for half a second, but he still feels the delay in his soul. Scully has only ever been unsure about their partnership a handful of times (the time she was possessed by television and most recently, Diana Fowley immediately coming to mind) and it breaks his heart to know she is nervous about seeing him.

“Sure.” She finally responses. “Bring beer.”

Neither say goodbye before hanging up and Mulder quickly changes and rushes to the gas station to grab them beer. He makes it to her apartment in record time, feeling his heart rate increase with each number that flashes in the elevator.

Mulder gulps and knocks, listening to her soft steps pad to the door before it swings open.

“Hi.” She smiles and steps aside to let him in, her eyes slightly down-casted and not quite meeting his own. 

“Hey.” He responses, uncomfortable with the sudden formality of their exchange. “I brought beer.” He extends his arm to her and she takes it with shaky hands.

“I’ll put them in the fridge and meet you on the couch.”

He walks slowly to her living room and sits himself on the couch cushion furthest to the right. Looking around, he realizes he has only been in her home a handful of times, most of their late nights being spent on his couch, and takes notice of how organized her apartment is. It’s not uncomfortable, but feminine and demure in its approach.

Mulder smiles brightly at her as she returns, handing him an uncapped beer with one in her other palm. “Your apartment is nice.”

Scully arches an eyebrow at him. “You’ve been here before.”

“I know, but only to pick you up. I’ve never actually hung out here.” He shrugs and takes a sip of his beer.

She frowns slightly, trying to think about to their late-night conversations and realizes he is right. Up until now, Mulder has been over to rescue her from Tooms and Eddie Van Blundht, visited after his father was killed, and slept in her bed after being drugged.

Nothing like the moment they are currently sharing. It’s always his apartment or a motel.

Scully takes a seat on the couch cushion furthest from him and for a while they both sit silently, sipping their beer. The pizza arrives a little while later and they resume their positions, this time feeling the silence with chews and swallows of their respective pieces.

It takes her some time to gather courage, but finally she asks, “what are you doing here?”

Mulder finishes sipping the last of his beer before leveling his gaze with hers. “We should talk.”

“Oh.” She bites her bottom lip and nods.

“I want more.” The admission shoots out of him before he can stop himself. He meant to do things slowly, to ease her into the idea, but much like his x-files rants, it comes bursting from his soul before he can reel it in. When he is passionate about something there is no stopping his mouth.

Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open in shock for just a split second before she reigns in her emotions. “Mulder, we already established that we can’t do that.”

“No, you established that.”

“It has to be both of our decisions.” Her voice betrays her nerves, but there is a fiery blaze in her eyes.

“Do you not want more?”

“Mulder, it has nothing to do with that.” She shakes her head.

“Then what is it, Scully because I’m drawing a blank.” Mulder’s voice hitches in volume. To cover his nerves, he is resorting to anger and tries to take a deep breath to reign in the aggression.

She sighs and finishes her beer for some liquid courage. It’s now or never. “I’m not _Diana_ _Fowley_.” Scully all but hisses her name.

Confusion flashes over his features and he shakes his head, not quite understanding. Panic erupts in his chest as she stands and moves into the kitchen, but quickly subsides a moment later when she returns with two more beers. They both take a sip before Scully continues talking.

“I’m always going to challenge you. I can’t support you like Diana could… can… did.” She sighs once more at her own fumbling.

“Scully, I don’t want Diana.” He sounds pained and she knows his curious mind is trying to keep up with her train of thoughts. It almost makes her smile how oblivious he is about Diana’s reappearance in his life, but it also angers her.

“Mulder, what happens when you get sick of me always poking holes in your theories?” Her voice is matching his aggression levels now and her face goes a bit red with the rage. “I can barely handle the thought of you banishing me from the x-files. I don’t think I’d survive you leaving me.”

The anger that was building in his chest at Scully’s stubbornness is instantly gone at her admission. “You think I’d leave you?” He husks, vocal cords mimicking the pain in his heart at the idea.

“Won’t you?” She quips, hanging onto the wrath in order to mask the intense fear hammering in her chest.

“Scully, I meant every word I said in my hallway.” His eyes meet hers, pleading for her to understand. Her gaze never wavers and Mulder can tell she is still doubtful of his intentions. “You save me, you keep me honest, you make me a whole person.” He reiterates. “But it still isn’t enough. I want more. I want you in every aspect of my life.”

“I don’t know how much more I can give you.” She shakes her head in fear and grief. “I’ve already given you so much of my professional career, of myself, and I don’t know if I can risk the rest of my personal life.”

“Do you really want to do this alone?”

“Do what, Mulder?”

“Everything. Anything. Work, life, death. Do you want to be alone?”

“Loneliness is a choice.”

“If that’s true, why are you choosing it? Scully, I don’t want to do this alone. I don’t know if I can anymore. Not when I know what’s out there.”

This time when he says those words she knows he isn’t talking about work. He is talking about life. He is asking her to give herself over to him completely, to remove the few barriers left between them, and the request shakes her to the core.

“Mulder.”

“Please, Scully.” He sets his cup down and moves closer to her on the couch, his hand reaching out to stroke the side of her knee.

She stares at him for a long time, her eyes searching his for any lingering doubt, but she finds none. Instead, his expression is hopeful, longing, a reflection of the desire and yearning resonating in her own body. “The x-files…”

“We will figure it out.” He cuts her off. His voice is higher in pitch and it reminds her of his puppy-dog eagerness when starting a new case.

“Diana…”

“Forgotten.”

“Skinner…”

“He doesn’t have to know right away.” He says with a smile.

She ponders some more, body buzzing with nerves and craving. He lets her think for a few minutes, clock ticking on her wall, before he can’t wait any longer.

“Iterate.”

“What?” She asks, caught off by his statement.

“We didn’t finish the scientific method last night. We forgot iterate.” 

A small smile cracks the fearful expression on her face. “Use the results to form a new hypothesis.” She unnecessarily clarifies. “What’s your new hypothesis?”

“We can make a relationship, a _romantic_ relationship, work.”

“And what results or evidence are you basing this postulation on?”

“Five years of a trustworthy working partnership.” His hand slides from her knee to rest on her mid-thigh.

“What about personal evidence?” She presses a bit further, trying in vain to keep a smile off of her face.

“Hmmm.” He pretends to ponder. His hand leaves her thigh and before she can process what he is doing, Mulder pulls his t-shirt up and over his head. The action leaves him bare chested in front of her for the second time this week. “I think this speaks for itself.”

Scully bites her lip and glances at the bruises along his body. The same bruises she soothed with kisses the morning prior.

He is right, of course (not that she would ever say those words out loud). The bruises, scrapes, and frostbite on both of their bodies are sufficient evidence of their loyalty to one another. Couples always say they will go to the end of the earth for one another, but Mulder literally has.

He must notice her resolve is breaking because he sends a smirk her way and it’s the cheeky expression that finally breaks her resolve.

“Kiss me.” She whispers and he moves without a moment’s hesitation, lunging at her from his position on the couch. He knocks their noses together clumsily before turning his head enough to meet her lips.

The first touch is awkward and inelegant, but Scully grabs his face and slows his eagerness for their second meeting. Her lips glide gently against his and she swipes her tongue along his bottom lip as he opens to grant her permission. Their tongues meet in the middle and slide together and Mulder steals a soft moan from her mouth.

His arms wrap around her waist and he tugs until she is straddling his lap, her slender hips bracketing him against the back of the couch. She gasps at the new position, but sinks into his body, threading her hands in his hair and diving deeper into his mouth.

The cold chill in her body that has lingered since being stung is instantly gone. All she feels is the heat from his body and the passion in his kiss.

Mulder sucks her bottom lip into his mouth and bites gently down, pulling it back and letting it pop from between his lips. “I’ve always wanted to do that.” He rasps, voice lower from the lack of oxygen.

“We shouldn’t have sex tonight.” She says out of the blue.

“What?”

“Your injuries. The physical exertion could further damage your ribs and the lacerations on your spine.”

Mulder laughs openly and hugs her against his chest. She starts laughing alongside of him, feeling the vibrations in his chest rumble into her own.

“Always so rationale.” He whispers into her ear and lets his lips trail light kisses down the side of her neck. When he reaches her shirt, he bites at the skin, making sure to only press hard enough to leave a temporary indent and not a semi-permeant mark.

Scully yelps and unconsciously rocks her hips forward into his erection. Both of them gasp and Mulder grabs her hips, pushing her back an inch.

“If you don’t want to have sex tonight you can’t do that.” He grunts, his eyes closed to restrain himself from shamelessly grinding her against him.

She studies him for a moment, eyes wondering up and down his frame. They rest on his straining erection, clearly evident under the jeans he is wearing, and then flick back up to his eyes. She can see the pent-up desire almost vibrating his body. “Adrenaline?” She questions with a flirty smile on her lips.

Mulder looks at her curiously, unsure what her game is, but nods. “Among other things.”

“I can help with that.”

“You just said…?” A finger pressed to his lips silences his questioning.

“As long as you don’t exert yourself, you should be safe.” Her voice is smooth and confident as her hands trail down his chest. She flicks open the button on his waistband and swiftly unzips his jeans.

He audibly gasps when he catches up to her game plan. “You don’t have to.” He voices, even as his hips raise enough to allow her to tug the jeans over his hips. Mulder watches as she slides off of his body, onto the ground, taking his jeans completely off.

“I want to.” She practically purrs, kissing his knee, his thigh, and his hip on the way back up. “Plus, you’ve helped me twice already.”

“Not with my mouth.” His voice is desperate and a bit whiny, sad that he has yet to taste her.

She smirks up at him and resumes her position on his lap. “Who said I was going to use my mouth?”

“Oh god.” He groans, realizing he just “cock-blocked” himself from receiving a blowjob from Scully. However, any attempts to backtrack are instantly forgotten when her hand slips through the slit in his boxers and she cups him. “Shit.” He gasps and grabs the back of her knees bracketing his hips.

Scully glides her fingertips up and down his length for a moment, first assessing his length and hardness without seeing him, before pulling his cock out of his boxers. Her gaze drops to his lap and she licks her lips at the sight.

Mulder is thick, long, and impressively hard. She knew he would be gorgeous, having seen him a few times while on his deathbed, but never expected just how enraptured she would be in his hardened state.

She watches as a drop of precum leaks out of the tip and knows he isn’t going to last long.

“Scully.” He whispers after a few moments. She is just sitting in his lap, cock in her hand, unmoving, and it is driving him crazy.

“Hmm?” She looks up at him and then blushes. “Oh, right.” Her thumb swipes out to brush against his tip, gathering some of the wetness and circling it around the head of his cock. He shudders at the sensation and his eyes flutter shut. 

“Look at me.” Scully demands and waits until his eyes reopen. Keeping his gaze, she lets go of his cock, reaches up, and spits into her palm.

“Fuck.” Mulder groans, watching her with raptured attention. She feels like one of the slides on his projector and senses her own arousal spike at her internal comparison.

Her hand drops back to his cock and lubricates it with the spit on her hand. Her palm glides easily up and down, and she tightens her grip as she feels his fingertips dig into her thighs.

It’s quiet in her apartment and the slick sounds of her hand pumping his length is loud in both of their ears. Their eyes never break contact and Mulder’s mouth drops open as he pants with her handling of his cock.

As his hips jerk off of the couch, a reaction to a particularly hard squeeze, Scully uses her free hand to push his hips back down. “No unnecessary exertion. Stay still.”

Mulder growls, but obeys her command. He always suspected that she would be a bit bossy in the bedroom and is pleased to know that he is correct. “Faster.” He requests.

“Not yet.” She teases and much to his dismay, she lets go of his cock and sits back against his knees. “I think this might be too dangerous with your head injury after all.”

Mulder’s eyes nearly balk out of his head. His erection is straining against his bare torso and his hands have a death grip on her legs. “W-what?"

A devious smirk forms over her features and she leans her top half toward him to whisper in his ear, “I had you big time.”

His jaw drops open as she pulls back to grin wickedly in his face. _“Special Agent Dana Scully is a goddamn tease,”_ he thinks and his hands grab her ass within a split second of that analysis.

Mulder doesn’t give her time to process what he is about to do, picking her up and throwing her onto the couch cushions next to him. She yelps in surprise and then gasps as his body hovers over hers, his hips driving down between her legs. The action causes his cock to bump her clit through her pants and Scully lets out a deep moan.

“What did I say about physical exertion?” Scully reprimands even as her legs widen to allow him to press her further into the couch.

“You said no unnecessary exertion. I don’t think this is unnecessary.” His lips land on her throat and he leaves hot, opened mouth kisses all along her pulse points. “In fact, I think this is very necessary.” His lips find her ear and he sucks the lobe between his teeth, nibbling gently.

“Mulder you’re going to hurt yourself.” She chastises even as her neck turns to the side to allow him more room to explore. His wet lips leave a trail of saliva down the column of her throat and he pulls the neckline of her shirt down to expose more of her collarbone to nibble on.

“You still smell like me.” He mumbles into her skin.

“I haven’t showered again yet.” She admits and arches her hips under him when he licks across a particularly sensitive spot on her neck.

His groan is half in approval and half in pain and Scully notices it immediately. “Stand up.” She demands, gently pushing on his chest to ease them back into a seated position. He obeys, gingerly pushing himself onto his feet, and follows in slight surprise as she guides him into her bedroom.

They stand at the foot of her bed and she turns to tug his boxers, sitting cock-eyed on his hips, down his legs until they pool at his ankles. “On your back.”

Mulder slides onto her bed, kicking the garment fully off, his body humming in arousal and nervous energy. While he has been in her apartment many times, even occupying her bedroom on a rare occasion, he has never sat on her bed. The action always seemed too personal, too out-of-line.

Making eye contact with her, he slowly lays himself down, watching as she joins him, her slender hips straddling his waist once more. She is still fully clothed and the sensation of being bare before her makes him tremble.

“You’re beautiful.” Scully whispers as if sensing his hesitation at being so vulnerable. Her hand reaches between her legs to grasp his solid length once more and any doubt leave his mind. She pumps him languidly for a few moments before she leans over him, her free hand bracing next to his shoulder. “Ask me.”

Confusion flashes over his features as his lustful brain tries to make sense of what she wants. He knows she isn’t asking him to beg – can sense that is the wrong option – and rapidly flicks back through the files in his mind that contain their conversations in the last 48 hours. Finally, he finds the right one.

“Short-term plans?” He rasps into her ear, turning his head to the side to brush his lips across her earlobe as he speaks.

A wide smile forms across her features when he figures out her alluded demand. She loves that he is always able to read her, to know exactly what she is thinking. It’s one of the reasons they work so well as partners and she knows it’s going to be the reason they are explosive in bed.

“Short-term plans.” She repeats as if she has to think about her answer. “Well first, I’m going to jack you off.” He hips jerk off the bed on a grunt at her informal terminology. “And then I’m going to sit here and grind on you until you are hard again, no matter how long it takes you.”

“What then?” He croaks out when she pauses to flick her thumb back and forth over his dripping tip.

“I’m going to fuck you.” She states it so matter-of-factly that Mulder can’t contain his reaction. He grabs her hips and grinds himself up into her palm only to have her push him back down with a solid rock from her pelvis. “You’re a terrible patient.” She mutters and he smirks.

“Sorry doctor Scully.” The wink he sends her way almost makes her forget her short-term plans, having the sudden urge to rip her pants off and take him deep. Instead, she tightens her grip on his cock and starts a much quicker pace. “Fuck.” He utters and digs his heels into the bed to keep himself grounded.

“Take my shirt off.” Scully bends toward Mulder’s torso to help assist in her demand and he peels her shirt off, flinging it off the side of the bed on a deep moan.

She is braless and the action leaves her bare from the waist up. “Gorgeous.” He praises, but any action is taken away from him when her left hand joins her right on his cock. “Scully!”

Mulder’s shout encourages her and she starts pumping both hands up and down, twisting them with each movement. She feels his hips tense and watches as his bottom lip plumps out on a loud moan.

“Going to – ohh!” Mulder tries to warn Scully about his impending orgasm, but she chooses that moment to flick her thumb over the tip of his cock and he can’t hold back his pleasure any longer. Hot, sticky cum shoots out of him and coats her stomach, ribs, wrists, and hands as she continues to stroke him through the entirety of his orgasm.

Scully watches in rapture, ecstatic to be witnessing his moment of pleasure.

As his shoulders relax back into the bed, she lets go of his now half-hard member and licks one of her sticky fingers into her mouth. Mulder’s eyes go wide and he lets out a sated moan.

“You are so fucking sexy.” He whispers, reaching to tug her down so that he can kiss her. They share a deep kiss with Mulder tasting himself on her lips.

“Let’s clean you up.” She whispers and slips off the bed to grab a towel. She wipes herself of his arousal before slowly cleaning off his cock and thighs. An eyebrow arches in amusement when she feels his shaft twitch in her hands. It’s clear he is going to have an impressive refractory period.

Scully shimmies out of her pants and drops the towel. She hears an appreciative groan from Mulder when he realizes she has also foregone panties today. Sliding back onto his waist, she rests herself above his cock so that it twitches against her bare ass and his hands grab her hips to grind her sex against a non-bruised part of his torso. The action makes Scully shiver and she slowly begins to rock herself against his lower abdomen.

“I can’t wait to kiss every single inch of you.” Mulder breathes, his eyes greedily taking in the full sight of Scully naked above him. He is playing by her rules tonight, staying still and letting her take charge, knowing his bruised ribs would be grateful in the morning.

His hands rub up her sides and he palms both of her breasts, letting his thumbs swipe back and forth across hardened nipples. “Ohhh.” Scully pants.

The rocking on his abs is making him slick with her arousal and she easily glides back and forth across toned muscles. It is not going to be enough to get to her off, but the pressure on her swollen folds feels incredible.

Even with all of the bruises and frostbite on their bodies they are both stunning and Mulder sits up so that they are chest-to-chest. He reaches behind him to rearrange some pillows so that when he leans back again he is in a reclined position.

“I wanted to feel more of you.” He explains with a small smirk before pulling her down until a pert nipple falls into his open mouth.

She giggles once and lets her mouth drop open in pleasure as his tongue swirls around and around her chest. His teeth come into play a second later and Scully quivers in his lap.

His hands drop back to the junction of her hips and uppers thighs, and Mulder pushes her back until his cock is nestled against her cunt. Both of them groan at the sensation and Scully continues her rocking motion, grinding herself on his rapidly hardening member.

The moment he is ready to go, Scully lifts herself and aligns the tip against her opening. They hesitate there, looking into one another’s eyes, before she slowly drops herself onto him. The first few inches glide in and her hands grip his shoulders in a tight vice.

“You okay?” He pants. His hands have drifted to her ass and he gently holds her up, off of the rest of his cock while she adjusts.

“Yeah.” She nods. “It’s just been a while and I don’t usually penetrate myself with my vibrator when I’m alone.”

Mulder lets out a deep groan and his nails dig into the flesh of her ass. “Scully, I’m trying to be a gentleman here, but your masturbation techniques are not helping.”

“Sorry.” She giggles, the red flush on her face an indicator of her bashfulness.

She eases up and off of his cock before slowly sinking herself back onto him. This time, mixed with the wetness of her previous attempt, she is able to take him completely inside of her. Both of them moan loudly at the sensation of finally being intimately joined.

“I love you.” Once again Mulder is unable to stop the rush of words escaping his mouth on a gush of air.

Scully pauses in his lap and smiles at him softly. Her eyes stay on his as she slowly begins to grind her pelvis against his hips, rocking his cock inside of her. “I know.” It’s a soft whisper and he nearly misses it as she lifts and drops back down, her ass slapping against his thighs with the impact.

“Fuck!” Mulder groans and uses the strength of his arms to lift and drop her once more. They both pant as gravity settles her harder on his shaft.

Suddenly her hands grab his face, cupping his cheeks in both palms, and she presses their foreheads together. “I love you too.”

Mulder chuckles and nozzles his nose against hers. “I know.”

They share a soft kiss and Scully starts moving. Her hands drop to his shoulders once more for leverage and she uses her knees to bounce her up and down in his lap. Mulder’s hands raise to hold her lower back, not wanting to guide or direct her, but simply wanting to feel her muscles contract with each sway of her pelvis.

Both of them know they aren’t going to last long. Mulder’s prior orgasm, the emotions of the last week, and the fact that they are finally together are all accumulating into an explosive, but quick moment.

They try to prolong the inevitable, slowing their pace, but both of them feel the familiar coiling in their guts as their orgasms loom close in the distance.

“We’re on the verge.” Mulder whispers, holding her close as he gently thrusts up into her, despite her orders to stay still.

The words vibrate in her chest. It’s a call back to their moment in the hallway, but this time he isn’t talking about their careers. No, this time he is talking about their relationship. They are finally taking the next step and there is no going back.

“I’m here with you now.” She breathes and then arches her back, pushing her chest against his as her orgasm slowly and firmly flutters throughout her body. It starts in her clit, pulses through her cunt, spasming around his cock, and then warms its way up her chest, down her arms, and trembles in her thighs. Mulder encourages her through the pleasure, using his hands to keep her grinding.

When she finally drops onto his chest, her body going slack aside from the after tremors in her sex, he gently rolls them both over so that he is hovering above her. He kisses the concern off of her arched eyebrow at the change of position before kissing her lips.

Slowly, he beings to thrust into her at a higher angle, giving her oversensitive clit a break. Mulder waits until her sex stops spasming in revolt of the stimulation after an intense orgasm and she starts moaning softly, to pick up his pace.

He lays his chest down on hers, pressing as much of them together as possible, as he starts to piston in and out. He is no longer able to hold back and Scully must feel the same way because her arms latch around his shoulders and her feet hook around his ass.

Mulder’s ribs are really being put to the test, but he doesn’t pay attention to the pulsing pain in his sternum. He keeps fucking her, driving her into the mattress as hard and fast as his sore body can go.

“Fuck, Mulder.” Scully gasps. “I want to come with you this time.”

His growl indicates that he wants the same thing and he lowers down to his elbows to change the angle so his hips stroke her clit on each grinding motion.

“Yes.” Scully practically mewls as sucks at any skin she can reach: his neck, his chin, his lips.

“I’m close.” He pants, straining himself to try to hold off his impending orgasm.

“Me too.” She breathes a second later and he releases a shuddering gasp. “Together.”

It’s Scully’s final word that breaks both of them and the fly over the edge, taking pleasure from the experience of the other’s orgasm. Her walls hug him tightly and he buries deep, rocking their pelvises to keep friction until the spasms stop. His hot seed erupts inside of her and the cling to each other desperately, as if they still can’t believe something so earthly wonderful is happening to them after all of these years.

Finally, they collapse. Mulder makes sure to roll to the side and lands with a grunt next to her. Scully is instantly rolling to face him, cupping his chin and then quickly moving to assess his ribs and sternum.

She helps him settle onto his back and presses gently fingers into different parts of his chest as he winces and groans. “Make a guy feel good and then wound him at his most vulnerable.” He teases through the pain.

Scully smirks in sympathy and brushes some of his sweaty hair from his forehead. “I told you to stay still.”

“I couldn’t help myself.” He cheekily grins and they share a soft laugh.

He eases her back down until she is curled against him. It reminds him of their positions on his couch all those many hours ago and he sighs in contentment. Scully pulls the covers over them and settles into his embrace, careful to not put any more pressure on his chest.

“I win.” Mulder whispers when he thinks she has fallen asleep.

“We win.” Scully lifts her head and smiles at his surprised face. They share a gentle kiss before sleep overtakes them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was made better by my lovely beta-reader, hellsteeth. <3


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